Written Answers Wednesday 27 February 2008

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the common agricultural policy (CAP) "health check" will (a) increase the amount of funds available to farmers through national envelopes and (b) allow payments of national envelopes to be targeted geographically, and what its position is on these issues.

Richard Lochhead: At this stage, no decisions have been taken about whether the CAP "Health Check" will increase funding available through national envelopes or allow for any such funding to be targeted geographically. We wish to ensure that full consideration is given to the potential for more flexible use of national envelopes and we are currently engaging with stakeholders to inform and develop our position on the European Commission’s "Health Check" proposals.

Antisocial Behaviour

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of nuisance behaviour have been reported on NHS health care premises in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: There is no national return made on incidents of nuisance behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made with the review of the National Antisocial Behaviour Strategy.

Fergus Ewing: The review of the national antisocial behaviour (ASB) strategy is progressing well. The external project board, made up of senior stakeholders, will meet for the first time today to advise government and oversee the review process. The content of and process for the review has been fully scoped and plans have been put in place for communication, consultation, research and reporting and these are now being actioned. A summary of the key considerations and processes for the review follow.

  Scope

  The following is a summary of the key issues and questions for consideration as part of the review.

  Develop an understanding of the use and effectiveness of key measures in the 2004 act

  The key issue here is to establish why some measures are being well-used in one area and infrequently in another and whether this is because of differences in local approaches or because there is a problem with the legislation or its related guidance. A prime example is the variation in the use of seizure of vehicles powers. The review will look to gather evidence through research and consultation with local agencies to establish whether the legislation or guidance needs to be tweaked to make it easier for local agencies to tackle specific ASB problems, such as antisocial drivers. Key questions for this review objective include:

  Q.1. Why are there variations in the use of the various enforcement measures?

  Q.2. How can the measures or their usage be improved to increase effectiveness at tackling antisocial behaviour?

  Q.3. Which of the recommendations made by the various evaluations of enforcement measures should be taken on board?

  Q.4. Should any enforcement measures be de-prioritised by local agencies or altered by government and are existing evaluations of their effectiveness sufficient to support such decisions?

  Consider the range of responses to tackling antisocial behaviour deployed by local agencies, including the use of community wardens.

  Work on this strand will involve a simple and high-level mapping exercise to determine what ASB services are being delivered across Scotland. This will, for example, plot in table format how many wardens each authority has, which authorities have witness and victim support services, which authorities offer mediation services etc. This will form part of the evidence gathering phase of the review. A second and more meaty consideration under this strand will be the future direction for community wardens and in particular whether we should recommend they be given further enforcement powers. Key questions under this review objective are:

  Q.5. What core and periphery ASB services are each local authority providing?

  Q.6. Should we recommend that wardens be given further enforcement powers?

  Consider whether the current balance between prevention and enforcement is appropriate.

  The aim of this objective is to review the evidence to see whether we need to alter the current balance between prevention and enforcement. This government has already indicated its desire to put additional focus on prevention and early intervention at the national level. A key consideration is whether local agencies need to reposition themselves on the spectrum or whether agencies are already focused towards prevention and early intervention and we merely need to identify and report this activity more accurately. Key questions for this objective are as follows:

  Q.7. Should we recommend a change in the balance between prevention and enforcement?

  Q.8. Should we recommend that resources be redirected to reflect any new balance between prevention and enforcement or should we recommend that efficiencies be identified to ensure additional resources are freed up to cover any new activities associated with any new balance?

  Q.9. Is there already a focus locally on prevention and early intervention but such activity is not being identified and reported accurately?

  Determine ways in which communities could become more usefully involved in the process of tackling antisocial behaviour within their own communities.

  This objective stemmed from a manifesto commitment. There are a number of strands to this work – community involvement in preventing ASB, community involvement in witnessing and reporting ASB, limited community involvement in the process of applying sanctions and sentencing, community involvement in receiving information and reassurance from local agencies that action is being taken to tackle ASB and giving feedback to those agencies on their performance, and community involvement in supporting victims of ASB. Key questions include:

  Q.10. How do we ensure communities are effectively engaged in partnership approaches to tackling antisocial behaviour?

  Q.11. Is there any limited role communities could have in the process of seeking particular sanctions and sentencing options?

  Consider future needs for community safety communications designed to raise public awareness of national policy and local service delivery.

  This is one of the more straightforward objectives for the review and should not be hugely time-consuming. The main consideration will be whether further national or local publicity is required to ensure the public are aware of services such as noise nuisance teams. It will also consider a number of practical issues such the future of the Community Safety Awards Scheme, our websites and branding around community safety and antisocial behaviour. Key questions are:

  Q.12. Is further local or national PR work required to publicise local service provision, such as noise nuisance teams and would this assist in reassuring practitioners and the public of the priority Government still accords to tackling antisocial behaviour?

  Q.13. Should we continue to run a revamped Community Safety Awards scheme or should this be abandoned?

  Inform the development of performance frameworks for Community Safety Partnerships.

  Work on this is on-going in a parallel process so it is not anticipated that the review will undertake considerable work on this strand. The main consideration will be what level of support practitioners will require following the introduction of the new local government concordat. It will also be necessary to consider and provide advice to local agencies on the future of local antisocial behaviour strategies required under the 2004 act. Key questions include:

  Q.14. What level of practitioner support will be required to support the implementation of the review recommendations and the update of local antisocial behaviour strategies under the new concordat?

  Research

  The evidence base for the review of the national antisocial behaviour strategy is already well developed. The following evaluations have already been published:

  Evaluation of the Impact and Implementation of Community Wardens (March 2007, Bib. number 44818);

  Use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders in Scotland (September 2007, Bib. number 43671);

  A Review of Dispersal Powers (October 2007, Bib. number 43909);

  An Evaluation of Local Authority Antisocial Neighbour Noise Nuisance Services (October 2007, Bib. number 44007), and

  The Impact of Local Antisocial Behaviour Strategies at the Neighbourhood Level (October 2007, Bib. number 44006).

  The following additional research is in the pipeline:

  A rudimentary review of key existing literature on antisocial behaviour in Scotland and England and Wales (expected spring 2008);

  Research interviews to assess the use and effectiveness of key measures in the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (expected spring 2008);

  A study looking at incidences of Antisocial Behaviour Order breach (expected spring 2008);

  An evaluation of the Breaking the Cycle intensive family support pilots (expected autumn 2008), and

  A review of the use of police fixed penalty notices one year after full national implementation (expected winter 2008).

  There is scope to undertake additional ad hoc research as required during the course of the review.

  Consultation

  We have established a multi-layered approach to consultation on the review. Internally, we have established a Steering Group of policy leads across government to ensure all relevant interests in this cross-cutting issue are involved. Externally, we have established a project board of senior stakeholders to advise us and oversee the review process. The following organisations will sit on the board, which will be chaired by the Scottish Government:

  Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)

  Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE)

  Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPOS)

  Chief Fire Officers’ Association Scotland (CFOAS)

  Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA)

  Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW)

  Safeguarding Communities, Reducing Offending (SACRO)

  Judicial Studies Committee (JSC)

  YouthLink Scotland (YLS)

  Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR)

  NCH Scotland (NCHS)

  Victim Support Scotland (VSS)

  Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP)

  Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)

  The project board will meet on three occasions during the course of the review – in February, June and September – and will be asked to agree the direction of the review and the final recommendations. The first meeting of the board will take place today and papers from meetings will be made publicly available through our new review webpage: www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com/review.

  In addition to the external project board, we will consult with practitioners informally through their national officer associations, such as the Antisocial Behaviour Officers’ Forum, the Scottish Community Safety Network, the Antisocial Behaviour Lawyers’ Forum and the Community Wardens’ Network.

  We do not intend to conduct a formal, three-month written public consultation exercise but instead plan to establish a series of focus groups, including one with younger people, to solicit public opinion and test ideas. We will also run a number of consultation events and public forums to seek the views of the public and answer their questions.

  Review output

  As set out in the Terms of Reference published last year, we intend to publish the findings of the review by the end of 2008. That output will consist of four main elements – a set of recommendations for government and partners; a route-map setting out how and when any changes will be delivered and by whom; a report setting out the reasoning behind our recommendations and presenting a new narrative for the antisocial behaviour strategy, and a body of research which has helped to inform the review. All of this will be laid before Parliament by the end of the calendar year.

Bridges

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for the creation of a bus priority lane on the approach to the Forth Road Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: Bus priority measures, as part of the toll plaza remodelling and associated works, are a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) and the City of Edinburgh Council, in conjunction with SESTRAN.

  These measures are currently being taken forward as part of the works following the abolition of bridge tolls on the Forth Road Bridge.

Bridges

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive by what date heavy goods vehicles will no longer be able to use the existing Forth Road Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: Following inspection work carried out by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) in 2004 and 2005, a significant level of corrosion was found in the main cables of the Forth Road Bridge. It was determined that the loss of strength lay between 8 to 10%.

  Work indicated that the safety factor would drop below two (the commonly accepted minimum figure) in around 2013/2014 if corrosion continued at the current assessed rate. This would require some intervention in the form of a ban on heavy goods vehicles using the bridge.

  However, until FETA have concluded their work to arrest the corrosion, we will not know if the restriction is definitely required.

Central Heating Programme

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many installations under the central heating programme were completed from October to December 2006, broken down by local authority area.

Stewart Maxwell: Information is not held by local authority area but by main postcode. The managing agent (Scottish Gas) has provided installation figures for the three-month period October to December 2006 from its commencement as managing agent on 1 October 2006, not for those individual months. The average monthly installation rate over the period requested is shown in the following table:

  

 2006
 AB
 DD
 DG
 EH
 FK
 G
 HS
 IV
 KA
 KW
 KY
 ML
 PA
 PH
 TD
 ZE
 Total


 October
 0
 2
 0
 4
 1
 11
 0
 0
 2
 0
 0
 7
 0
 0
 1
 0
 28


 November
 0
 2
 0
 4
 1
 11
 0
 0
 2
 0
 0
 7
 1
 0
 0
 0
 28


 December
 0
 3
 0
 3
 2
 12
 0
 0
 3
 0
 0
 6
 0
 0
 0
 0
 29


 Total
 0
 7
 0
 11
 4
 34
 0
 0
 7
 0
 0
 20
 1
 0
 1
 0
 85



  Note: 1. The figures provided are for completed installations.

Central Heating Programme

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many installations under the central heating programme were completed from October to December 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Stewart Maxwell: Information is not held by local authority area but by main postcode. The monthly installation rate over the period requested is shown in the following table:

  

 2007
 AB
 DD
 DG
 EH
 FK
 G
 HS
 IV
 KA
 KW
 KY
 ML
 PA
 PH
 TD
 ZE
 Total


 October
 75
 37
 33
 116
 73
 152
 17
 48
 168
 9
 66
 52
 90
 50
 8
 2
 996


 November
 72
 139
 56
 81
 32
 227
 11
 26
 99
 19
 54
 65
 74
 23
 24
 3
 1,005


 December
 85
 50
 39
 108
 19
 269
 7
 27
 31
 18
 63
 61
 63
 12
 20
 4
 876


 Total
 232
 226
 128
 305
 124
 648
 35
 101
 298
 46
 183
 178
 227
 85
 52
 9
 2,877



  Note: 1. The figures provided are for completed installations.

Central Heating Programme

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-6277 by Stewart Maxwell on 21 November 2007, what progress has been made on the review of the central heating programme and when the outcome of the review will be reported to the Parliament.

Stewart Maxwell: Officials are in the process of concluding the review. I will be discussing this in due course with stakeholders in the field and with the Communities and Local Government Committee.

Central Heating Programme

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering the introduction of a social insurance and maintenance programme as part of the free central heating programme.

Stewart Maxwell: This issue is not currently being considered given the pressure already on the programme. All beneficiaries of the central heating programme are advised that their heating system is under full warranty for 12 months after installation and that maintenance and repair is their responsibility at the end of the warranty period. Householders are also advised that they may wish to consider ways to maintain or repair their system after the warranty period has ended.

Class Sizes

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is collecting statistics on class sizes from local authorities, in addition to the annual census of class sizes, as part of its funding for 300 additional teachers announced on 20 June 2007 ( Official Report , c. 880) and, if so, when these statistics will be made available.

Maureen Watt: No. The returns we will shortly be receiving from individual local authorities in respect of their share of the £6 million made available in 2007-08 through the National Priorities Action Fund for the employment of 300 additional teachers are designed to show the number of additional primary teachers employed and the numbers of schools benefiting from the funding. We expect this information to be available in March. The other £3 million was allocated for 2008-09 to complete the academic year. The total £9 million has been baselined as part of the local government finance settlement.

Communities Scotland

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which agency will have responsibility for national co-ordination of community engagement in the event of the abolition of Communities Scotland.

John Swinney: Community engagement is a key element of a wide range of policy areas and contributes towards all of our strategic objectives. As such, the Scottish Government has a key interest in national co-ordination of policy on community engagement.

Communities Scotland

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which agency will be responsible for monitoring national standards for community engagement in the event of the abolition of Communities Scotland.

John Swinney: The National Standards for Community Engagement are a good practice tool which have a part to play in improving community engagement. They are not mandatory. A recent evaluation of the impact of the standards, which will be published soon, has shown that they are beginning to have a positive effect. The Scottish Government, working with COSLA, will continue to promote the standards as good practice.

Communities Scotland

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which agency will be responsible for national co-ordination of the Communities Voices programme in the event of the abolition of Communities Scotland.

John Swinney: The Community Voices Programme is now part of the Fairer Scotland Fund. The Scottish Government is responsible for the performance management arrangements for the Fairer Scotland Fund.

Communities Scotland

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which agency will be responsible for publishing information and guidance on community engagement in the event of the abolition of Communities Scotland.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government, in partnership with COSLA and third sector bodies, will issue any new information and guidance on community engagement if those involved in engagement work feel there is a need for it.

Communities Scotland

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how spending by community planning partnerships on community engagement will be monitored in the event of the abolition of Communities Scotland.

John Swinney: Responsibility for the implementation of Community Planning sits with the Partnerships themselves, and it is up to individual partnerships to decide on the detail of how community engagement is carried out. The Public Service Reform Directorate of the Scottish Government continues to have overall responsibility for Community Planning policy but will not monitor spending by individual partnerships on community engagement.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients have been newly registered in NHS Tayside since April 2007 up to the latest date for which information is available.

Shona Robison: This information is currently being collated and I will reply to the member as soon as possible.

Deprivation

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which communities in East Ayrshire have the highest numbers of 10 to 19-year-olds living in the 15% most deprived areas.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the tool used by the Scottish Government to identify area concentrations of multiple deprivation. The SIMD is based on the small area statistical geography of data zones. Data zones are groups of census output areas which have populations of between 500 and 1,000 household residents. There are 6,505 data zones covering the whole of Scotland.

  Individual data zones are not named and therefore data contained within this response have been presented according to named "intermediate" zones which represent aggregations of groups of data zones. There are 1,235 intermediate zones in Scotland, containing on average 4,000 household residents. While intermediate zones do not necessarily delineate communities on the ground, community boundaries were taken into consideration in the construction and quality assurance of the intermediate zones. In the absence of any definition of "communities", intermediate zones are deemed the most appropriate means of presenting data in response to the question posed.

  For those areas in East Ayrshire which fall within the 15% most deprived areas – as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation – the table below provides the numbers of 10 to 19-year-olds by intermediate zones:

  

Name of intermediateZone
 No of Data Zones within the Intermediate Zone
 No of Data Zones in the 15% Most Deprived
 No of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in the Intermediate Zone
 No of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in 15% Most Deprived
 % of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in the Intermediate Zone in 15% Most Deprived


 Altonhill North and Onthank
 5
 3
 636
 448
 70.4


 Shortlees
 6
 3
 671
 428
 63.8


 Altonhill South, Longpark and Hillhead
 5
 5
 398
 398
 100.0


 Auchinleck
 4
 3
 482
 340
 70.5


 Doon Valley South
 5
 2
 487
 275
 56.5


 Doon Valley North
 6
 3
 489
 252
 51.5


 New Cumnock
 4
 1
 395
 164
 41.5


 Drongan
 4
 1
 439
 153
 34.9


 Cumnock Rural
 7
 1
 775
 153
 19.7


 Galston
 6
 1
 693
 141
 20.3


 Newmilns
 4
 1
 420
 120
 28.6


 Mauchline Rural
 7
 1
 588
 110
 18.7


 Cumnock South and Craigens
 7
 1
 780
 88
 11.3


 Kilmarnock South Central and Caprington
 4
 1
 374
 82
 21.9


 Bonnyton and Town Centre
 5
 1
 310
 56
 18.1



  Notes: The number of 10 to 19-year-olds was sourced from the 2001 population census of Scotland.

  There are 30 intermediate zones in East Ayrshire. Each of the 15 intermediate zones with at least one data zone falling within the 15% most deprived areas are presented in the table above. There are 15 intermediate zones in East Ayrshire with no data zones falling within the 15% most deprived areas.

Deprivation

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which communities in South Ayrshire have the highest numbers of 10 to 19-year-olds living in the 15% most deprived areas.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the tool used by the Scottish Government to identify area concentrations of multiple deprivation. The SIMD is based on the small area statistical geography of data zones. Data zones are groups of census output areas which have populations of between 500 and 1,000 household residents. There are 6,505 data zones covering the whole of Scotland.

  Individual data zones are not named and therefore data contained within this response have been presented according to named "intermediate" zones which represent aggregations of groups of data zones. There are 1,235 intermediate zones in Scotland, containing on average 4,000 household residents. While intermediate zones do not necessarily delineate communities on the ground, community boundaries were taken into consideration in the construction and quality assurance of the intermediate zones. In the absence of any definition of "communities", intermediate zones are deemed the most appropriate means of presenting data in response to the question posed.

  For those areas in South Ayrshire which fall within the 15% most deprived areas – as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation – the table below provides the numbers of 10 to 19-year-olds by intermediate zones:

  

 Name of Intermediate Zone
 No of Data Zones within the Intermediate Zone
 No of Data Zones in the 15% Most Deprived
 No of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in the Intermediate Zone
 No of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in 15% Most Deprived
 % of 10 to 19-Year-Olds in Intermediate Zone in 15% Most Deprived


 Dalmilling and Craigie
 7
 4
 773
 512
 66.2


 Lochside, Braehead and Whitletts
 6
 3
 644
 366
 56.8


 Ayr North Harbour, Wallacetown and Newton South
 6
 4
 443
 286
 64.6


 Girvan Glendoune
 5
 1
 457
 71
 15.5


 Ayr South Harbour and Town Centre
 6
 1
 380
 67
 17.6



  Note: The number of 10 to 19-year-olds was sourced from the 2001 population census of Scotland.

  There are 24 intermediate zones in South Ayrshire. Each of the five intermediate zones with at least one data zone falling within the 15% most deprived areas are presented in the table above. There are 19 intermediate zones in South Ayrshire with no data zones falling within the 15% most deprived areas.

Domestic Abuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that adequate funding is provided to deliver support services across (a) Aberdeen City, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Angus for victims of domestic abuse.

Stewart Maxwell: Provision of local support services is the responsibility of local agencies and the Scottish Government is working with COSLA on how equality issues will be covered in the single outcome agreements.

  The Scottish Government is strongly committed to tackling violence against women and has made specific funding available for local projects for a range of violence against women projects, including domestic abuse.

  In 2006-08, four projects in Aberdeen were funded under the Violence Against Women Fund, amendment in Aberdeenshire and three in Angus totalling over £568,000. In addition, almost £425,000 funding has been made available in all three areas from 2006-08 to develop support services for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Where appropriate project funding has been rolled up into the local government settlement.

  The Scottish Government has shown its on-going commitment to tackling violence against women, including domestic abuse, through the allocation of more than £40 million over the next three years to this agenda including continued funding for children’s support services and for project funding across the violence against women agenda. Applications from local projects under the violence against women funding stream for 2008-11 are currently being considered.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that adequate funding is spent on delivering effective drug treatment services in Grampian.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government allocates funding from different sources for delivering effective drug treatment services across Scotland. This includes money from the Justice portfolio budget, from the local government finance settlement, the unified health board budget, the police and monies for blood borne viruses. The spending review proposes £29.5 million/£32 million/£32.8 million for the period for the drug misuse budget within the Justice portfolio alone. The vast majority of this will be allocated to health boards to provide drug treatment and rehabilitation services.

  It is the responsibility of local partners – once resources from the Scottish Government have been allocated - to ensure that adequate funding from other sources is spent on drug treatment and rehabilitation services to meet proven local needs and priorities.

  The Scottish Government has asked Audit Scotland to carry out work, as a matter of urgency, to get a clearer picture of the scale and effectiveness of public expenditure on tackling drugs. Audit Scotland will publish a detailed report no later than spring 2009 which will help guide future spending decisions.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was provided to deliver drugs support and treatment services in (a) Aberdeen City, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Angus from 2003 to 2007.

Fergus Ewing: Funding is allocated to health boards for drug treatment and care services. Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire falls within the boundaries of NHS Grampian and Angus within NHS Tayside. The following table sets out the funding that has been made available to NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside.

  

 NHS Board
Allocation2003-04 (£000)
Allocation2004-05 (£000)
Allocation2005-06 (£000)
Allocation2006-07 (£000)


 Grampian*
 1,314
 1,963
 2,202
 2,202


 Tayside**
 1,483
 1,559
 1,965
 1,965



  Notes:

  *NHS Grampian comprises Moray, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Drug Actions Teams.

  ** NHS Tayside comprises Perth and Kinross, Angus and Dundee City Drug Action Team.

  The Scottish Government also allocates funding from other sources for delivering effective drug treatment services across Scotland. This includes money from across the Justice portfolio budget, from the local government finance settlement, the unified health board budget, and monies for other related health issues such as blood borne viruses.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be provided to deliver drugs support and treatment services in (a) Aberdeen City, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Angus during the spending review period.

Fergus Ewing: No decision has yet been taken on funding allocations to individual health boards for drug treatment and rehabilitation services. The spending review proposes £29.5 million/£32 million/£32.8 million for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 for the drug misuse budget within the Justice portfolio alone. This represents a 14% increase in spending by 2010-11. The vast majority of resources will be allocated to health boards to provide drug treatment and rehabilitation services.

  In addition, in line with the local government finance settlement, it will be the responsibility of local authorities to allocate funding for drug treatment services to a level decided by themselves on the basis of their local needs and priorities from the consolidated block grant. In the past, this level of funding has been significant, and at least comparable to the ring-fenced funding provided by government.

  In addition, health boards use resources from their unified budget to supplement funds provided through the drug misuse budget. £46 million has also been allocated to health boards for 2008-11 to provide treatment and care to those people affected by hepatitis C, the vast majority of whom will be current or former drug users.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to raise awareness of drug treatment services in the north east of Scotland.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government, in partnership with the Scottish Drugs Forum, launched an updated National Directory of Drug Services in Scotland in June 2007 which lists all 237 specialised drug services in Scotland which includes those in the north east. The directory continues to be advertised widely across Scotland and can be accessed via the following link: www.scottishdrugservices.com .

  The government also funds Know the Score, the national drugs information campaign, which supports a website and 24 hour helpline. Both facilities provide information and advice as well as directing callers to local services.

  Primary responsibility for local communications rests with local delivery partners. To assist with this, each alcohol and drug action team is allocated dedicated funding to support local communications work.

Education

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the schools estate - PPP funding package in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Maureen Watt: The amounts included in Revenue Support Grant in the years concerned for the 16 authorities to whom support for the current tranche of school PPP projects has so far become payable were as follows:

  

 Local Authority
2005-06 (£)
2006-07( £)
2007-08 (£)


 Aberdeenshire
 1,700,000
 3,400,000
 3,400,000


 Angus
 -
 -
 573,216


 Argyll and Bute
 -
 637,581
 4,995,193


 East Ayrshire
 -
 -
 448,633


 East Lothian
 2,920,000
 2,950,000
 2,950,000


 East Renfrewshire
 330,000
 3,110,000
 3,950,000


 Edinburgh City
 -
 -
 251,556


 Fife
 -
 823,164
 3,668,162


 Highland
 -
 -
 1,143,470


 Midlothian
 -
 -
 1,249,500


 North Ayrshire
 -
 -
 2,656,213


 North Lanarkshire
 70,000
 3,494,511
 7,541,458


 Renfrewshire
 -
 3,170,000
 6,160,000


 South Ayrshire
 -
 -
 130,824


 South Lanarkshire
 -
 -
 2,167,281


 Stirling
 -
 -
 693,382

Education

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the Schools Fund in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Maureen Watt: Whilst local government had flexibility to allocate other resources for work on the school estate, the amounts allocated to authorities from the Schools Fund in the years concerned were as follows:

  


2005-06
(£ Million)
2006-07
(£ Million)
2007-08
( £ Million)


 Aberdeen City
 3.045
 4.766
 4.484


 Aberdeenshire
 4.235
 6.629
 9.057


 Angus
 2.076
 3.249
 3.811


 Argyll and Bute
 1.943
 3.041
 3.316


 Clackmannanshire
 0.962
 1.506
 1.617


 Dumfries and Galloway
 2.809
 4.396
 7.281


 Dundee City
 2.461
 3.852
 3.586


 East Ayrshire
 2.366
 3.703
 3.610


 East Dunbartonshire
 2.443
 3.824
 3.584


 East Lothian
 1.751
 2.740
 3.174


 East Renfrewshire
 1.942
 3.039
 3.266


 Edinburgh City 
 6.886
 10.778
 10.730


 Eilean Siar
 0.830
 1.299
 1.173


 Falkirk
 2.576
 4.032
 3.816


 Fife
 6.427
 10.059
 11.360


 Glasgow City
 10.109
 15.822
 14.653


 Highland
 4.332
 6.780
 7.425


 Inverclyde
 1.839
 2.880
 2.671


 Midlothian
 1.717
 2.688
 2.656


 Moray
 1.660
 2.598
 2.676


 North Ayrshire
 2.692
 4.213
 4.270


 North Lanarkshire
 6.958
 10.891
 12.066


 Orkney
 0.598
 0.936
 0.788


 Perth and Kinross
 2.348
 3.673
 5.101


 Renfrewshire
 3.336
 5.221
 5.052


 Scottish Borders
 2.171
 3.398
 4.001


 Shetland
 0.692
 1.083
 1.453


 South Ayrshire
 2.264
 3.544
 3.404


 South Lanarkshire
 6.205
 9.712
 8.640


 Stirling
 1.754
 2.745
 3.097


 West Dunbartonshire
 1.967
 3.078
 2.811


 West Lothian
 3.306
 5.175
 6.420


 Scotland Total
 96.700
 151.350
 161.050

Energy

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Communities and Sport last met Scottish Power and what issues were discussed.

Stewart Maxwell: I met with Scottish Power on 17 December 2007. A range of issues were discussed including the impact of high fuel prices and the initiatives Scottish Power is undertaking to mitigate their effects on vulnerable households, and its policies for back-charging customers with prepayment meters.

Environment

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it will do to protect St Kilda from any rats that may be aboard the grounded trawler, Spinningdale.

Michael Russell: The St Kilda World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). The Management Plan for the St Kilda WHS (World Heritage Site) includes a contingency plan for this type of emergency and NTS sent staff to the island to initiate a programme to find and eliminate any rats which may have escaped from the Spinningdale. They remained on the islands for three days but detected no trace of rats. I understand that remains the position as the MoD staff resident on St Kilda are maintaining a watch for evidence of rats. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) continues to monitor the situation closely.

Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to respond to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s consultation on its appropriate assessment of the 24th Oil and Gas Licensing Round Block 17/3 (Inner Moray Firth) in relation to European wildlife sites in the surrounding area.

Richard Lochhead: The regulation of oil and gas exploration is a function reserved to the Secretary of State.

  Scottish Natural Heritage, as the appropriate nature conservation body under the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001 (as amended), is considering the draft appropriate assessment and will respond before the completion of the consultation process on 14 March 2008.

  I await Scottish Natural Heritage’s advice and will decide at that time whether the Scottish Government will respond to the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform consultation.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when negotiations will be completed with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee in respect of extended hours for GPs.

Nicola Sturgeon: We expect the result of the GP poll early in March. Depending on the outcome of the poll we will be seeking thereafter to finalise the detailed arrangements for extended hours in Scotland with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what GP services will be reduced as a result of the policy to extend GPs’ opening hours.

Nicola Sturgeon: None.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been done in Scotland to provide the evidence base for extending GPs’ opening hours.

Nicola Sturgeon: Better access to GP practices is a significant issue for people.

  In producing the Better Health, Better Care Action Plan, we saw over 2,000 people face to face and received nearly 600 submissions. This exercise revealed that improving access to GP practices ranked highly amongst peoples’ priorities for the future pattern and provision of health care services.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional money will be made available to GPs to ensure that surgeries open for extended hours have appropriate numbers of staff.

Nicola Sturgeon: The total additional value of the offer is £19 million. We estimate that this is worth £19,000 per annum to the average practice.

  The extended hours enhanced service will be supported by £16 million of funding (£2.95 per registered patient), of which £9.5 million is new money.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when negotiations with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee will be completed in relation to extended hours for GPs.

Nicola Sturgeon: We expect the result of the GP poll early in March. Depending on the outcome of the poll we will be seeking thereafter to finalise the detailed arrangements for extended hours in Scotland with Scottish General Practitioners Committee.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any GPs’ services will be reduced as a result of the policy to extend GPs’ opening hours and, if so, which ones.

Nicola Sturgeon: The offer currently being considered by GPs will pay for additional services over and above what is already provided.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been done in Scotland to provide the evidence base for extending GPs’ opening hours.

Nicola Sturgeon: Better access to GP practices remains a significant issue for people.

  In producing the Better Health, Better Care Action Plan, we saw over 2,000 people face to face and received nearly 600 submissions. This exercise revealed that improving access to GP practices ranked highly amongst peoples’ priorities for the future pattern and provision of health care services.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional money will be made available to GPs to ensure that surgeries open for extended hours have the appropriate staff.

Nicola Sturgeon: The total additional value of the offer is £19 million. We estimate that this is worth £19,000 per annum to the average practice.

  The extended hours enhanced service will be supported by £16 million of funding (£2.95 per registered patient), of which £9.5 million is new money.

Health

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has of individuals travelling to Scotland for the purpose of using its health services.

Nicola Sturgeon: Any person who becomes permanently and lawfully resident in Scotland and can show proof that he or she has done so will be entitled to NHS care on the same basis as other residents.

  It is possible for people from other parts of the United Kingdom to travel to Scotland in order to receive treatment, and vice versa. The costs will be met by the health authorities where such individuals reside, and the Scottish Government Health Directorate has issued guidance to NHS boards on the procedures to be followed.

  Overseas nationals must under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Scotland) Regulations 1989, as amended, be charged for NHS services unless they meet one of a number of categories for exemption from charges or are receiving a service which is exempt from charges. There is some evidence that a relatively small number of overseas nationals seek to obtain NHS care to which they are not entitled in terms of the Regulations. My officials have recently issued updated guidance to the NHS in Scotland to help them to distinguish between those welcome guests who are entitled to NHS care while they are in Scotland and those who are attempting to abuse our hospitality.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects that cardiac rehabilitation will be offered to at least 85% of heart attack and revascularisation patients.

Nicola Sturgeon: The target referred to in the question forms part of the National Service Framework for CHD (2000), which applies only to England. The position in Scotland is governed by SIGN Guideline 57 (2002) and the CHD and Stroke Strategy (2002, revised 2004). The cardiac Managed Clinical Networks in each board are responsible for cardiac rehabilitation programmes, in particular for encouraging the participation of groups which tend to be excluded, such as women, older people and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

  The revised CHD and Stroke Strategy, due for publication this summer, will take account of recommendations arising from current work on cardiac rehabilitation being undertaken by the National Advisory Committee on CHD.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) hip replacements, (b) knee replacements, (c) angioplasties and (d) cataract operations have been carried out in each of the last 10 years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of procedures undertaken as inpatients and day cases is published on the Information Services Division website (ISD) of NHS Scotland at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/Annual_trends_in_surgical_procedures_hbt_February2008.xls .

  Cataract operations can also be performed in an out-patient setting. From April 2003 the national reporting of surgical activity in out-patients has been required and ISD has been working with NHS boards to develop full compliance nationally. Emerging findings from the data collection for outpatient procedures is published on the data development section of the Information Services Division (ISD) website of NHS Scotland at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4788.html.

  More detailed information on hip and knee replacements is available on the ISD arthroplasty website http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/2366.html.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of buying and equipping a suitable property for rent to enable baby Ryan Turner to return home would be approximately half of the estimated cost of keeping the baby in hospital after he has been declared fit to leave.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what review of progress of NHS Fife’s Right for Fife strategy it has undertaken to ensure that the proposed community medical facilities are in place or in the process of being delivered.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Fife is responsible for implementing the service developments emerging from Right for Fife, including those relating to community-based facilities and services. Scottish Government officials discuss progress regularly with the NHS board.

  Various developments are already in place or in the process of being delivered. In the acute hospital sector these include new facilities and services at Queen Margaret Hospital which will help to equip the hospital for its important role in providing Fife-wide services and local services for the people of Dunfermline and west Fife. An example is the new haematology unit which I opened on 20 November last year. Progress is well advanced in delivering a new community hospital for St Andrews – NHS Fife reached financial close on the project with its preferred provider in November last year. Also in November, I opened the new Linburn Road Health Centre in Dunfermline which has helped to increase capacity in the primary care sector in the area. These are only some examples of work completed or in progress.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to upgrade the Queen Margaret Hospital, as promised in the 2007 SNP election campaign in the Dunfermline area.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Fife is responsible for planning and providing service changes to hospitals in Fife. It is currently reconfiguring services in the Queen Margaret Hospital as part of a range of wider service changes which stemmed from its Right for Fife review and service strategy agreed in 2002.

  I have made it very clear that I do not intend to unpick every decision about hospital changes made by the previous administration, especially when these changes were agreed a number of years ago. I have also made it clear that the Queen Margaret Hospital will continue to have an important role in providing Fife-wide and local services. Recent improvements to facilities and services at the hospital include:

  Development of an acute medical admissions unit

  A new expanded haematology and oncology day unit

  Refurbishment of the dermatology unit

  Refurbishment of the renal unit

  Refurbishment of ward dayrooms

  Development of an admissions and discharge lounge

  Development of a clinical assessment unit

  Development of a deep vein thrombosis service

  New accommodation for the antenatal clinic

  More paediatric clinics

  Increased antenatal and breastfeeding support

  Improved paediatric surgical and orthopaedics facilities

  Relocation of the pain management service

  Development of a colorectal unit

  Development of a vascular laboratory

  Installation of an interventional radiology suite

  Work is also currently under way to install an MRI suite and a digital mammography suite, to enhance out-patient and accident and emergency facilities and to redecorate and provide new furniture in a number of areas in the hospital.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital beds at the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline (a) are in place, (b) are planned for each of the next five years and (c) were in place in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Information requested is available for the years 2004-2012 and is outlined in the table below. Figures for 2004-08 are actual and those for 2009-12 (shown in italics) are projected. The figures relate to in-patient beds only.

  Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline: Actual and Projected In-Patient Beds

  

 
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 2008
 2009
 2010
 2011
 2012


 Acute Beds
 363
 360
 375
 375
 375
373
373
373
81


 Mental Health Beds
 102
 102
 102
 102
 102
102
102
102
102



  Source: NHS Fife, February 2008.

  It is important to note that in-patient bed numbers do not provide an accurate measure of the range of services which will be provided in the hospital in future. NHS Fife expects the major new build facilities at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy to open in 2012 and at that time the Victoria and Queen Margaret Hospitals will begin to carry out their new and complementary roles in delivering the full range of acute hospital services to the people of Fife. Queen Margaret Hospital will have a Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at its core and will provide an enhanced range of day and out-patient services. The vast majority of people who currently uses acute hospital services at the Queen Margaret will continue to do so.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guarantee it can provide that baby Ryan Turner will be protected from hospital acquired infections as a consequence of remaining in hospital after he has been declared fit to leave.

Nicola Sturgeon: The vast majority of patients, young and old, leave our hospitals without suffering from any form of infection. Our hospitals are now far cleaner and safer environments and through our hand hygiene campaign we are continuing to make staff, patients and visitors aware that they have a responsibility for ensuring that they embed good hand hygiene into their daily routine to avoid passing infections on to vulnerable patients.

  The Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) programme has been continually evolving since 2003 as part of a concerted effort to reduce infection rates. But I have recognised that a still more intensive programme of work is required if we are to tackle the programme more effectively. I have therefore earmarked £54 million over the next three years to back a new HAI programme from 2008-09 and to support a national MRSA Screening Programme from 2009-10.

Housing

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many repossession decrees have been granted by courts in each year since 1997.

Fergus Ewing: It is not possible to provide information on the total number of repossession decrees granted. However, the following table shows the number of "mortgage lender" decrees granted by sheriff courts under ordinary cause procedure in each year since 2003.

  Information from 1997 to 2002 is given in table 3.7 of Civil Judicial Statistics, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 44768, 16386, 16249, 19702, 26040 and 31061 for each year from 1997 to 2002, respectively).

  The Number of Ordinary Cause1 Mortgage Lender2 Actions Disposed of by Sheriff Courts, by Nature of Final Judgment, 2003-07

  

 
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007


Decree granted for pursuer
2,983
3,041
4,057
3,818
3,782


Otherwise disposed of
99
145
173
210
198


Total
3,082
3,186
4,230
4,028
3,980



  Notes:

  1. An ordinary cause is a type of court procedure. In relation to the data above, it refers to cases where the value of the claim was over £1,500 (this was increased to £5,000 from 14 January 2008) or the case involved complex legal issues.

  2. Repossession of property in breach/default of a house purchase loan.

  3. The data are management information statistics which have not been subjected to the same quality assurance standards as statistics produced by the Government Statistical Service. In addition, there are general concerns surrounding the accuracy of some of the civil judicial statistics collected by the Scottish Government. In relation to these data, it is believed that inaccuracies exist when identifying disposed cases and some "mortgage lender" actions may be misclassified as "land or heritable estate" actions, and vice versa.

  4. Action is being taken to improve the accuracy and reliability of the civil judicial statistics collected by the Scottish Government. In particular, it is intended that actions for repossession will be more easily and accurately identified.

  5. A decree for repossession which has been granted does not necessarily result in an actual repossession or eviction. Therefore, the figures cannot be used to estimate the number of repossessions. It is not known what proportion of mortgage lender decrees granted result in an actual repossession or whether the proportion stays constant each year. Hence it cannot be inferred that a rise (or fall) in these decrees equates to a rise (or fall) in repossessions.

  6. Other actions for repossession are collected under the action "land or heritable estate", but they are recorded along with other case types and are not available separately. They are also collected under the summary application "Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970", but due to the way in which the data are recorded it is not possible to determine how many applications were granted. Therefore, the data do not include all actions for repossessions.

Housing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal protection owners of mobile caravans that are (a) permanent and (b) used as holiday homes have against eviction.

Stewart Maxwell: The Caravan Sites Act 1968 protects occupiers of mobile homes against eviction and harassment. It stipulates that a site owner needs to go to court to evict a mobile home owner on a protected site, which is defined in section 1(2) of the legislation. A protected site is one which is licensed by the local authority under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 and which has planning permission to allow residential occupation. It is an offence under the act unlawfully to deprive an occupier of a caravan of their occupation if they have a contract to station and or occupy their residence on the protected site, or to evict the occupier from the protected site without first having to go to court.

  The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced new protections for mobile home dwellers and amended the 1968 act to define it as an offence when a person interferes with the peace or comfort of the occupier and persons living with the occupier or persistently withdraws or withholds required services or facilities.

  The Mobile Homes Act 1983 sets out the rights of mobile home residents who own their home and rent a pitch from the site owner, and who live in the home as their main residence on a protected site, as defined in section 1(2) of the Caravan Sites Act 1968. The legislation includes provisions on security of tenure and these must, by law, be included in the written agreement between resident and site owner. A site owner can only bring the agreement with the resident to an end following an application to court, or to an arbiter, on certain grounds specified in the legislation. An example would be if the court was satisfied that the occupier was not occupying the mobile home as his or her main residence.

  A site which has planning permission or a site licence granted for holiday use only, or which is subject to a condition that it must be closed for part of the year is not a protected site, as defined in section 1(2) of the Caravan Sites Act 1968. Non-statutory protections against eviction are afforded to owners of caravans on holiday sites which are members of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association or the National Caravan Council. Under a code of practice drawn up by these trade associations, caravan owners should receive a written licence agreement allowing them to live in the caravan for a specified period provided that the terms of the agreement are adhered to.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to replace Communities Scotland’s local offices with a Scottish Government presence at a local level to address housing investment issues.

Stewart Maxwell: Yes, some staff from the Scottish Government’s Housing and Regeneration Directorate will continue to be based in offices around the country previously occupied by Communities Scotland. They will work with local stakeholders to help take forward the government’s agenda for housing as set out in "Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland" .

Housing

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish a framework for the regulation and approval of tenancy deposits schemes under the provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006.

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to increase the protection available to tenants from landlords making unjustified deductions from their tenancy deposits.

Stewart Maxwell: Provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 give Scottish ministers powers to introduce a mandatory tenancy deposit scheme in Scotland. The Scottish Government has established a working group of stakeholders representing the interests of private landlords and tenants to consider the need for a mandatory tenancy deposit scheme in Scotland. The group agreed that further work should be carried out to develop an evidence base on the scale of the problem of unfairly withheld deposits in order to inform their thinking. In addition, the group is considering existing examples of good practice in tenancy deposit management.

  The working group is expected to make recommendations to Scottish ministers later this year on how deposit management practice might be improved and any further research which might be required. It will also be important to consider over time the impact that the mandatory landlord registration scheme and the forthcoming national voluntary landlord accreditation scheme have on improving deposit management practice among landlords and letting agents in Scotland.

Housing

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to prevent situations where tenants suffer as a result of landlords being unable to repay their tenancy deposits.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10021 on 27 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  In addition, it is the responsibility of a landlord taking a deposit from a tenant to ensure that they have the funds available to repay the deposit at the end of the tenancy. Under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, all private landlords are required to apply for registration with any local authority where they let property. In considering whether an individual is a ‘fit and proper’ person to be registered as a landlord, local authorities can take into account any evidence of bad practice on the part of the landlord that it considers relevant, including, for example, situations where the landlord has consistently unfairly withheld a tenant’s deposit. Local authorities may also contact landlords in relation to individual complaints in order to encourage them to improve their practice and take action to resolve disputes with their tenants.

Housing

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to commission further research into the scale of problems encountered by tenants who are unable to recover tenancy deposits owed to them.

Stewart Maxwell: A comprehensive survey of 1,000 tenants across Scotland is currently being undertaken for the Scottish Government as part of the government’s review of the private rented sector. This survey includes questions asking about tenants’ experiences in relation to tenancy deposits and current deposit management practices being followed by landlords and letting agents. A similar survey of private landlords is currently being commissioned, which will give the Scottish Government further information regarding landlords’ experiences of tenancy deposits.

Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in the public sector were suitable for families with more than one family member with a disability in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Stewart Maxwell: The number of public authority dwellings classified as suitable for people with disabilities can be accessed through the on-line Housing Statistics for Scotland information resource at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/SpecialNeeds .

  Changes in building regulations over the past few years have lead to increased accessibility of the more recent mainstream new build, particularly in the social sector, resulting in higher levels of barrier-free housing which can more readily be adapted to meet the particular needs of people with disabilities.

  Providers of social housing have a duty to accommodate a tenant’s needs where possible, including adapting existing mainstream housing as tenants’ needs change. Therefore in practice, people with disabilities may be housed in suitably adapted mainstream accommodation but this will not necessarily be identified through current data sources.

  The information held centrally on housing for people with disabilities does not include detailed information on the individual property type or what type of household it would be suitable for.

Human Trafficking

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many legal actions have been brought against human traffickers since March 2004, broken down by procurator fiscal district.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: Since the implementation of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, one case has been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service containing charges under section 22(1)(a)(i) of the act. The case in question was reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Glasgow and the accused was indicted to the High Court. Proceedings were subsequently discontinued following a review of the available evidence.

Justice

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people found guilty of defrauding the NHS have been given a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years.

Nicola Sturgeon: Since July 2000, no custodial sentences have been given to people found guilty of NHS fraud. Sentencing is a matter for the courts.

Marine Environment

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to media reports about the levels of marine plastics pollution and whether it plans to categorise plastics as dangerous waste.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Executive has funded KIMO’s "Fishing for Litter" project to help reduce marine litter of all kinds, including plastics. Following a meeting between KIMO and myself, my officials are currently discussing future work with that organisation. Support was also provided to the independent charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, to produce the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) 2006 , which may be found at http://www.littercode.org/ , and which deals with marine litter on beaches. Our consultation, Better Bathing Waters For All , on measures to transpose and implement the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC) contains details of proposals to clear litter, including plastics, from our shores. The consultation may be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/15101809/0.

  Wastes are hazardous if they are listed as such in the European Waste List (Decision 2000/532/EC). Plastics appear in several chapters of this list but are not themselves listed as hazardous, though they may occur in conjunction with other wastes which are.

Military Personnel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider fast track facilities for military personnel in the NHS, similar to those in England.

Nicola Sturgeon: The fast track arrangements in England provide fast access to treatment, generally for musculo-skeletal disorders. These are open to all serving UK armed forces personnel who, in the main, return to England from overseas to receive any treatment required. This reflects the location of Ministry of Defence Hospital Units.

  In Scotland, the MoD’s Regional Rehabilitation Unit at Redford Barracks treats musculo-skeletal injuries. Its work has been commended by the recent Defence Committee Report as forward looking and sensible in providing significant benefits to Scottish Service personnel and patients.

  NHS Scotland has well established links with Medical Defence Services and the Scottish Government is actively engaged with the MoD and the Department of Health on a range of issues, including arrangements for the rehabilitation of armed forces personnel.

Military Personnel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it plans to give to the recommendations affecting Scotland contained in the House of Commons Defence Committee’s seventh report of 2007-08 on military care for the armed forces.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to implement the recommendations of the House of Commons Defence Committee’s report on the health care needs of military personnel and their families.

Nicola Sturgeon: Our servicemen and women do an outstanding job and it is only right that they get the health care they need both during and once they leave the services.

  The Scottish Government will consider carefully the Defence Committee’s Report and will continue to work with the Ministry of Defence; the Department of Health and with Veterans’ Organisations in Scotland to fully meet the care needs of service personnel, their families and veterans.

  On 21 February 2008, the First Minister noted the statement of Colonel Martin Gibson, the Chief Executive of Erskine Homes:

  "The Scottish Government is working well in partnership with veterans’ organisations in providing information to veterans on the extension of priority treatment. There has been much positive activity in Scotland since Scottish Government officials appeared before the Defence Committee."

  We will continue to build on that positive activity.

Military Personnel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider increasing the frequency of meetings with the Ministry of Defence to improve the way in which the NHS in Scotland provides facilities for military personnel.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government already meets regularly with the Ministry of Defence to discuss a range of issues and will continue to do so.

  The Partnership Board, which includes senior Ministry of Defence and UK Health Departments’ officials, meets three times a year at where health matters affecting both parties are discussed at strategic level. Professor Peter Donnelly, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, represents the Scottish Government on the Partnership Board. The Board is underpinned by three Working Groups: Contracts, Performance and Operations; Planning, Policy, Resource and Strategy: and Workforce Issues. Scottish Government officials have full membership of each group, which meet every two months.

  We are participating fully in Military and Civilian Health Partnership Awards to promote clinical excellence provided by all professional groups involved in the healthcare of the UK armed forces, with special recognition of the successful partnership between Defence Medical Services (DMS) and the UK civilian healthcare providers.

  The Minister for Communities and Sport, Stewart Maxwell, recently met representatives from Veterans Scotland and MoD Ministers to discuss support provided to people leaving the forces and we will continue to work together on these issues.

  Scottish Government officials meet regularly with representatives of Veterans Scotland and individual Scottish veterans’ charities. They also chair the Veterans’ Programme Scotland Steering Group which brings together the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Scotland to discuss issues that affect Scotland’s veterans’ community.

Military Personnel

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions are planned with NHS boards regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the House of Commons Defence Committee’s report on the health care needs of military personnel and their families.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9991 on 27 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

  In implementing the guidance on the extension of priority treatment to include all veterans, each NHS board has been asked to appoint a senior member of staff to have overall responsibility in ensuring the implementation of these guidelines and to record any difficulties that may arise. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with NHS Scotland in the provision of quality health care for serving armed forces personnel and their families, and veterans.

NHS Finance

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will cost to (a) refurbish Monklands District General Hospital, (b) establish a Lanarkshire cancer centre at Monklands, (c) develop in-house mental health and learning disability facilities and (c) develop Airdrie Health Centre and whether the finance for these improvements was included in the recent NHS board allocations or whether additional funding will be made available.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lanarkshire are due to consider their 2008-09 Local Delivery Plan in March 2008, agreeing the board’s priorities for the next five years – until the board do this the estimated costs of the above projects cannot be confirmed.

  The board will be expected to manage all of their services, including the above projects where approved, within the resources available to them. I have already confirmed that I will provide £100 million capital funding to NHS Lanarkshire to support the regeneration of Monklands District General Hospital.

NHS Finance

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the revenue allocations to NHS Tayside (a) have been in each financial year since 2004-05 and (b) will be in 2008-09, expressed also at constant prices.

Nicola Sturgeon: The revenue allocations to NHS Tayside from 2004-05 expressed in constant prices have been:

  

 Year
Initial Allocation (£000)
In-Year Allocations (£000)
Total (£000)
Total at Constant Prices (2006-07) (£000)


 2004-05
 429,648
 118,481
 548,129
 575,766


 2005-06
 485,260
 91,890
 577,150
 593,709


 2006-07
 516,958
 85,612
 602,570
 602,570


 2007-08
 549,382
 84,283
 633,665
 613,719


 2008-09
 566,400
 -
 566,400
 533,889



  The 2007-08 figure has not yet been finalised and further in year allocations are likely. The 2008-09 total is the baseline allocation and does not include any in-year allocation.

NHS Services

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to NHS boards piloting Emergency Medical Retrieval Service provision and which NHS boards are undertaking work in this area.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has underwritten the full cost of the pilot projects for the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service.

  The area covered includes five health boards: Highland, Western Isles, Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway and remote areas of Tayside.

NHS Staff

Angela Constance (Livingston) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what grading for each profession and discipline has been awarded under Agenda for Change in (a) St John’s Hospital at Howden, (b) the Western General Hospital and (c) the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government does not collect information on banding broken down in this way. This information is therefore not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that the bandings of psychologists under Agenda for Change are consistently applied across different NHS boards.

Nicola Sturgeon: Agenda for Change is designed to be consistent across all staff covered by the new system using the same job evaluation process and the same job profiles. Outcomes are checked both at local and national level before bandings are confirmed. Any staff member who feels that the system has not been applied correctly to them has the right to request a review of their banding.

  In addition, partnership discussions are currently going on about what high-level monitoring can be put in place to assure staff and the service that the Agenda for Change system has been applied consistently throughout NHSScotland.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set a target date for completion of job matching and assimilation to new payscales under Agenda for Change and, if so, what that target is.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that there is capacity in the NHS to complete reviews under Agenda for Change in a timely manner and whether there is a target date for completion of the process.

Nicola Sturgeon: Every board in Scotland has recently been contacted and asked to submit a revised implementation plan to inform the Scottish Government when they expect to conclude the process. Once received, these plans will be analysed and a national implementation plan developed and supported. It is the responsibility of each health board to ensure that they have sufficient capacity to complete the whole process, including reviews, as quickly as possible.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of psychologists working in the NHS are on protected pay following banding under Agenda for Change and, if this percentage is significant, what steps it is taking to ensure there is no loss of expertise at a senior clinical and managerial level to the delivery of health care should these individuals choose to apply for positions elsewhere.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of psychologists on protection is not held centrally since the information collected on protection is only broken down as far as staff group. However, the level of protection within Allied Health Professions (which includes psychologists) is currently 7.1%. The overall level of protection in NHSScotland is currently 3.5%. You should be aware that the original target for protection levels agreed in partnership was less than 8%.

  NHS boards are responsible for ensuring the provision of safe, sustainable and high quality health care services that meet the needs of their local population. Clearly, going forward, there will be issues about how such a profound restructuring of terms and conditions will affect things on the ground and in specific situations. Some of these will be for NHS systems to manage locally whilst others will require work at a national level.

  Any national issue which arose around a particular staff group would be discussed through the national NHS management and partnership structures which are now well established in Scotland.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of psychologists employed in the NHS who have received a banding under Agenda for Change have appealed for that banding to be reviewed, according to the most recently available returns.

Nicola Sturgeon: We are starting to collate information on requests for reviews but NHS boards are not yet in a position to provide any statistics detailed by staff group. For many boards, the review process is only just beginning as they continue to concentrate on concluding the assimilation process and payment of arrears. This information is therefore not available at the moment

NHS Staff

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many doctors and nurses were employed in NHS Grampian in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table how many doctors and nurses were employed in Grampian, between 2002-07. All figures are headcount as at 30 September each year.

  Table 1: Number of Doctors and Nurses in NHS Grampian since 2002

  

 
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007


 All medical staff including GPs
 1,530
 1,513
 1,580
 1,587
 1,668
 1,673


 All medical staff excluding GPs
 1,140
 1,111
 1,151
 1,132
 1,192
 1,176


 Nursing and midwifery1
 6,193
 6,214
 6,225
 6,351
 6,387
 6,354



  Source: ISD.

  Note: 1. Staff working "as and when required" is excluded from the nursing and midwifery figures e.g. bank and agency staff.

NHS Staff

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many doctors in (a) Monklands, (b) Wishaw and (c) Hairmyres hospitals are due to retire in the next (i) year and (ii) four years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The specific information requested is not centrally available. However, the following table shows the number of doctors in NHS Lanarkshire who will reach the age of 65 in each year from 2008 to 2012. Please note also that there are five doctors in NHS Lanarkshire aged 65 or over as at 30 September 2007.

  HCHS Medical Staff in NHS Lanarkshire Reaching the Age of 651

  

 Year
 2008
 2009
 2010
 2011
 2012


 NHS Lanarkshire
 3
 6
 6
 5
 7



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  Note: ages 60 to 64, as at 30 September 2007.

NHS Staff

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies for doctors there are in (a) Monklands, (b) Wishaw and (c) Hairmyres hospitals, broken down by grade, and for how long each position has been vacant.

Nicola Sturgeon: The specific information requested is not centrally available. However, details of vacant consultant posts are published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics at www.isdscotland.org/workforce . The consultant vacancies table in the medical and dental section gives the number of consultant vacancies in hospital specialties by NHS board area and year. The table also gives the number of posts which have been vacant for six months or more. Latest available data is at 30 September 2007.

NHS Staff

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion has taken place with staff representatives regarding the possible outsourcing of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s occupational health services.

Nicola Sturgeon: Discussion with staff representatives is a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to take forward locally through the well established Partnership mechanisms that all boards are required to have in place.

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients held an availability status code on 1 December 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally. Prior to 1 January 2008 waiting list information was collected by a census undertaken on the last day of each month and published quarterly by ISD Scotland. The latest available information published on 26 February 2008 showed that 8,493 inpatient/day case patients held an availability status code on 31 December 2007.

  As ASC’s were abolished on 31 December 2007, national waiting time targets now apply to all of these patients. Those that are available for treatment will require to be treated within 18 weeks.

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have had their availability status codes removed without having received any treatment since the introduction of the 18-week target for patient treatment, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The 18 weeks maximum waiting time guarantee for inpatient and day case treatment applies from 31 December 2007. Information published by ISD Scotland on 26 February 2008 shows that NHSScotland delivered the guarantee.

  In preparation for the introduction of new ways of defining and measuring waiting times on I January 2008, NHS boards were required to review the cases of all patients holding an availability status code and to take action specified in published guidance. Patients with an availability status code who were available for treatment on 31 December 2007 will receive that treatment within 18 weeks, i.e. by 5 May 2008. Patients who were not available for treatment at the end of 2007 have either been transferred to the new waiting lists with their record noted as unavailable, in which case they will be reviewed regularly; or where clinically appropriate have been returned to the care of their GP – again as provided in published guidance. As of 1 January 2008, no patient was still subject to an availability status code.

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been excluded from a waiting time guarantee since September 2007 because treatment is deemed to be a low clinical priority.

Nicola Sturgeon: Waiting list information prior to 1 January 2008 was collected by a census undertaken on the last day of each month and published quarterly. The latest available information published on 26 February 2008, showed that the number of patients who had an availability status code indicating treatment of low clinical priority on 31 October 2007, 30 November 2007 and 31 December 2007 was 141, 112 and 34 respectively.

  From 1 January 2008 where a patient is placed on a waiting list the patient is treated within the national maximum waiting time target, subject to any periods of unavailability. There is no category of "low clinical priority".

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been excluded from a waiting time guarantee since September 2007 because treatment is too highly specialised.

Nicola Sturgeon: Waiting list information prior to 1 January 2008 was collected by a census undertaken on the last day of each month and published quarterly. The latest available information published on 26 February 2008, showed that the number of patients who had a highly specialised treatment availability status code on 31 October 2007, 30 November 2007, and 31 December 2007 was 472, 212, and 64 respectively.

  From 1 January 2008 where a patient is placed on a waiting list the patient is treated within the national maximum waiting time target, subject to any periods of unavailability. There is no category of "highly specialised treatment".

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been removed from waiting lists for specialist services since the introduction of the 18-week target for treatment, broken down by NHS board.

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been removed from hospital waiting lists since September 2007.

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been informed by consultants that they have been removed from waiting lists since September 2007, also broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: The 18 weeks maximum waiting time guarantee for inpatient and day case treatment applies from 31 December 2007. Information published by ISD Scotland on 26 February 2008 shows that NHSScotland delivered the guarantee.

  Information is not available centrally. New ways of defining and measuring waiting times came into effect on 1 January 2008. I have made clear that this system will be open and transparent and much more information will be published. It is planned to publish the number of patients referred back to the care of their GP, along with other information not previously available. Information under new ways will be published for the first time at the end of May 2008 covering the three months to 31 March 2008.

  As I have made clear, hospitals must follow published guidance when deciding whether a patient should be removed from a waiting list, whether for specialist services or for any other treatment.

NHS Waiting Times

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have waited longer than 18 weeks for inpatient or day-case treatment since September 2007, also broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: There were no patients with a guarantee waiting longer than 18 weeks for inpatient or day case treatment on the census dates of 31 October 2007, 30 November 2007 and 31 December 2007.

  Unlike the previous system where patients who had an availability status code applied could have exceedingly long waits - in some cases of over 12 months - all patients are now covered by the maximum waiting time standard under the new ways of defining and measuring waiting times which came into effect on 1 January 2008. Patients who held an availability status code on 31 December 2007 will be treated in hospital within 18 weeks from 1 January 2008, provided they are available. If they are unavailable, their case will be reviewed regularly until they can be treated or until a decision is made to return them to the care of their GP.

NHS Waiting Times

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, having now achieved the target to reduce Availability Status Code waiting lists in the NHS to zero, how many patients have been (a) treated, (b) removed from waiting lists and (c) transferred to the New Ways waiting times system since July 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: There were 8,493 patients on the inpatient and day case waiting list with an availability status code on 31 December 2007. Patients who held an availability status code on 31 December 2007 will be treated within 18 weeks from 1 January 2008, that is by 5 May 2008, provided they are available. If they are unavailable their case will be reviewed regularly until they can be treated or until a decision is made to return them to the care of their GP.

  The new approach to defining and measuring waiting – referred to as new ways – came into effect on 1 January 2008. It is intended to publish as much information as possible about patients’ experiencing periods of unavailability and numbers of patients removed from waiting lists. Information for the three months ending 31 March 2008 will be published at the end of May 2008.

NHS Waiting Times

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much NHS Scotland has spent on commissioning public opinion research since May 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

NHS Waiting Times

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on patients in Fife awaiting treatment who have been prevented from admission to hospital as a consequence of delayed discharges.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government recognises the impact that delayed discharges can have on patients awaiting access to hospital services. The January 2008 census shows that the number of patients delayed outwith the agreed six week discharge planning period in Fife has been reduced to 52, down from 87 since October 2007. The joint improvement team is working with the Fife Partnership and I understand that further major reductions have been made since the January census. I fully expect the partnership to achieve the target of having no patients delayed for more than six weeks, by April 2008.

  In addition, there is an agreed target to ensure that no-one is delayed in the most needed short-stay specialties. At January 2008, there were three patients delayed in short-stay beds in Fife, so the partnership are on track to achieve that target.

  Meantime NHS Fife successfully delivered a large number of challenging and demanding waiting times targets on 31 December 2007.

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which groups and individuals attended the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Forum.

John Swinney: The information requested has been set out in a table placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44863).

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what issues were discussed at the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Forum.

John Swinney: The forum discussed the Government Economic Strategy. Members of the forum considered, in particular, the contribution that three of the Government’s Strategic Objectives – achieving a Smarter; a Wealthier and Fairer, and a Greener Scotland – could make towards achieving increased sustainable growth.

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the annual running costs of the National Economic Forum, also showing the total annual running cost.

John Swinney: It is impossible at this stage to provide a breakdown of the annual running costs of the National Economic Forum. Only one meeting has been held to date and ministers wish to reflect on the outcome of that meeting and consider the views of forum members themselves, before reaching a view on the future direction and structure of forum meetings.

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the National Economic Forum will interact with the Small Business Consultative Group.

John Swinney: The government has not reached a firm view as yet on the relationship between the National Economic Forum and the Small Business Consultative Group (SBCG). When the SBCG last met, in October 2007, the group agreed that the SBCG should continue until the National Economic Forum was established and had had sufficient time to bed in.

  Given the views expressed at that meeting, the government plans to keep the future of the SBCG and, if the group is retained, its relationship with the forum, under review.

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to support Business in the Parliament in addition to the National Economic Forum.

John Swinney: The government sees the Business in the Parliament as complementary to the National Economic Forum. The former is a partnership event, between the Scottish Government and the Parliament, which aims to facilitate engagement between Scotland’s businesses and politicians, both the government and the Parliament as a whole. The forum brings together senior figures and thought leaders in business, trade unions, government, the wider public sector, and the third sector, as an important aspect of the government’s strategy to achieve transformational change and higher sustainable economic growth throughout Scotland.

  The government will therefore continue to support the Business in the Parliament event, as long as we remain convinced that it can usefully fulfil its aims.

Planning

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the comments recently made by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing regarding the proposed Go Ape facility in Pollok Park represent government policy in respect of this particular planning application.

Stewart Stevenson: Any comments made by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in connection with this issue were made solely and appropriately in her capacity as constituency MSP.

Procurement

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are included in its definition of best value in public sector procurement.

John Swinney: It is government policy that all procurement of goods and services should be based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity. "Value for money" is defined as the optimum combination of whole-life cost and quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet the user’s requirement.

  In addition to this, local authorities are subject to a duty of best value under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. An organisation which adopts best value will be able to demonstrate that they have a strategy for procurement and the management of contracts and contractors to ensure that it treats procurement as a key component in achieving its objectives, including those relating to sustainable development, equalities, and health and safety, as well as a means of finding the most cost effective method for securing the quality of assets and services it needs. It will ensure that the framing of specifications and the vetting of suppliers is consistent with these objectives. Also, that when competitive tendering, procurement procedures place the minimum possible burden on suppliers consistent with the achievement of best value through effective competition.

Rail Network

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in developing a national rail improvement plan.

Stewart Stevenson: Our High Level Output Specification (HLOS), published in July 2007, builds on the Scotland’s Railways document, and sets out our commitment to enhancing the rail network between 2009-14. The Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) will identify an investment portfolio for the longer term.

Rail Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to cut Aberdeen to Inverness rail journey times.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9407 on 25 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottishparliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

  The High Level Output Specification asks Network Rail to develop a credible plan for providing the infrastructure to support an hourly service between Aberdeen and Inverness and further journey time improvements between the central belt and Aberdeen. These will then be implemented as resources become available.

Rail Services

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5529 by Stewart Stevenson on 5 November 2007, whether it has any plans, in the medium to long-term, to purchase rolling stock to provide a half-hourly rail service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to answers to questions S3W-9564 and S3W-9565 on 27 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottishparliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  There are no plans to purchase rolling stock to provide a half hourly rail service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

Regeneration

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire councils received from the Community Regeneration Fund and other programmes in (i) 2002-03, (ii) 2003-04, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2005-06, (v) 2006-07 and (vi) 2007-08.

Stewart Maxwell: I have asked James Hynd, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  The table provides details of the original allocations to both local authorities from the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) between 2005-08. Prior to 2005-06 the CRF was not in operation. Both local authorities will have received awards from a wide range of other funds up to and including the current year. Without identification of these funds individually, it is not possible to attribute levels of award to the local authorities in question.

  

 Council
2005-06 (£ Million)
2006-07 (£ Million)
2007-08 (£ Million)


 Aberdeen
 1.218
 1.226
 1.282


 Aberdeenshire
 0.135
 0.136
 0.142

Scottish Government Agencies

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the First Minister on 30 January 2008, when the Scottish Records Advisory Council will cease to operate.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Records Advisory Council will cease to operate when the terms of office of the remaining two members expire in September 2008. The final meeting of the Council will take place on 27 February 2008.

Scottish Government Agencies

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what revenue and capital costs were incurred by the Scottish Records Advisory Council in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Records Advisory Council capital costs were £0 for 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. The revenue costs were (a) 2005-2006 £484.48 and (b) 2006-2007 £270.70.

Scottish Government Agencies

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which body will be responsible for providing advice to Scottish ministers on matters relating to the keeping of public records in Scotland and on issues of importance to the archive community after the abolition of the Scottish Records Advisory Council.

Linda Fabiani: The Keeper of the Records of Scotland will provide Scottish ministers with co-ordinated advice on matters relating to archives and records. Archive sector interests are also represented by the Scottish Council on Archives, the Archivists of Scottish Local Authorities Working Group and the Scottish Records Association.

Scottish Government Funding

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the Children’s Services - Womens Aid Fund in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Stewart Maxwell: The Children’s Services – Womens Aid Fund was introduced in 2006 in order to develop children’s services in local women’s aid groups. The majority of funding was allocated directly to local groups but in a small number of cases was allocated via the local authority. Details of the funding to local authorities in 2006-07 are set out in the table below.

  

 
2006-07


Aberdeen City
0.042


Aberdeenshire
0.074


Fife
0.070


West Lothian
0.033


Scotland
0.219 million

Sexual Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many diagnoses of chlamydia were reported to Health Protection Scotland in the (a) first, (b) second and (c) third quarter of 2007-08.

Shona Robison: Laboratory reports of genital chlamydia received by Health Protection Scotland in each quarter of 2007 are detailed as follows:

  

January to March 2007
4,468


April to June 2007
4,715


July to September 2007
4,350



  The fourth quarter data for 2007 are not yet prepared. This data is due for publication on 20 March 2008.

Sexual Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many diagnoses of (a) female infertility (i) in total and (ii) of tubal origin and (b) male infertility there have been in each year since 2002.

Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available. Patients with a diagnosis of infertility would generally be seen in an outpatient clinic and would not be admitted to hospital. Information on diagnoses is not recorded on the outpatient summary (SMR00) held with Information and Statistics Division.

Sexual Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) men and (b) women are being screened for chlamydia by each NHS board and how this percentage compares with screening targets.

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) men and (b) women are being screened for chlamydia by each NHS board and how these figures compare with screening targets.

Shona Robison: Percentages of men and women being tested for chlamydia by NHS board are shown in the following table.

  There are, as yet, no published targets for chlamydia testing. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is currently in the final stages of developing clinical standards for sexual health, including chlamydia testing, which will be published in April of this year.

  Percentage* of the Population of Men and Women in each NHS Board of Testing Undergoing a Chlamydia Test by Age Group, Scotland, 2005

  

 NHS Board areas
 Women
 Men


 % in those Aged 15-24
 % in those Aged 25-49
 % in those Aged 15-24
 % in those Aged 25-49


 Argyll and Clyde**
 22
 9
 3
 1


 Ayrshire and Arran
 21
 8
 6
 2


 Borders
 22
 6
 6
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 36
 13
 7
 2


 Fife
 21
 9
 5
 2


 Forth Valley
 22
 7
 6
 2


 Grampian
 29
 12
 7
 3


 Greater Glasgow
 26
 10
 8
 4


 Highland
 35
 12
 8
 3


 Lanarkshire
 15
 8
 4
 2


 Lothian
 28
 11
 8
 5


 Tayside
 27
 10
 8
 3



  Source: Health Protection Scotland.

  Notes:

  *Percentages were calculated using the GROS 2005 mid year population data.

  **The percentage of chlamydia tests performed by age group and gender in Argyll and Clyde NHS Board may be underestimated due to missing data.

  It is estimated that an approximate 5-20% of tests in a calendar year are repeat ones on the same individual as a result of: (i) repeat samples taken at a single consultation, (ii) samples taken at different consultations for the same clinical episode and, (iii) samples taken for clinical episodes occurring more than once.

Sexual Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to increase chlamydia screening through local pharmacies, similar to the Ayrshire and Arran pilot.

Shona Robison: There is no national screening programme for chlamydia in Scotland. Chlamydia testing takes place on an opportunistic basis by GPs and other health care professionals, which is in line with SIGN Guidelines.

  It is therefore for local NHS boards to determine services that best meet the needs of their local populations.

Sexual Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s draft consultation document on sexual health services has a target for male screening for chlamydia of 10% compared with 30% for women.

Shona Robison: The targets for chlamydia screening set out in the draft NHS Quality Improvement Standards have been informed by sexual health Key Clinical Indicators and represent existing best practice in Scotland.

Swimming Pools

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale it has set towards achieving the full provision of free access to council swimming pools for children.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost of providing children with free year-round access to council swimming pools.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to fully fund the cost of providing children with free year-round access to council swimming pools.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed with individual local authorities the cost of providing lifeguards in association with free year-round access to council swimming pools.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met representatives of (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire councils to discuss the provision of free year-round access to council swimming pools.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings it will hold in the next financial year with representatives of (a) Dundee City, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire councils to discuss the provision of free year-round access to council swimming pools.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6557 on 3 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Teachers

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the findings of the General Teaching Council Scotland’s 2006-07 employment survey of probationer teachers, whether it plans to allocate additional funding to enable local authorities to employ additional teachers.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government has already allocated an additional £9 million to enable local authorities to employ additional teachers in the academic year 2007-08 in order to alleviate a situation we inherited. The funding was baselined and forms part of the recent local government financial settlement.

  We have also signed a concordat with local government that commits local authorities to broadly maintain teacher numbers when pupil rolls are falling. This will provide additional employment opportunities for new teachers.

Travellers

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how Gypsy/Traveller communities can expect to benefit from its policy intention of creating sustainable, mixed communities, as set out in Firm Foundations: the Future of Housing in Scotland , and whether a race impact assessment of the report’s potential impact on Scottish Gypsy/Traveller communities has been or will be undertaken.

Stewart Maxwell: The proposals within Firm Foundations: the Future of Housing in Scotland are intended to promote a housing system which meets the accommodation need of all of Scotland’s communities, including minority groups. The proposals will be subject to an Equality Impact Assessment as they are translated into individual policies.

Travellers

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how ministers intend to build on the findings of the October 2007 Gypsy Traveller Site Grant Funding Study and the work of the previous administration’s strategic group on Gypsies/Travellers.

Stewart Maxwell: The recommendations from the Gypsies/Travellers Strategic Group have helped to inform the Scottish Government’s National Statement and Action Plan on Race Equality.

  The evaluation of the Gypsies/Travellers Site Grant was a survey on the use made by local authorities of the £2 million grant made available in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Its finding will help to inform decisions about future grant awards.

Travellers

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to improve current provision made for suitable pitches for Gypsies/Travellers.

Stewart Maxwell: Local authorities are responsible for the provision of official Gypsies/Travellers Sites in their area. In 2005-08 the Scottish Government is providing grant funding totalling £3.5 million to assist local authorities to improve their facilities for Gypsies/Travellers. Over the period 2008-11 £1 million per year will continue to be made available. In 2008-09 and 2009-10 the grant will continue to be ring fenced within the local government settlement. The ring fence will be removed in the third year.

Vulnerable Adults

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will achieve national minimum standards of service for vulnerable groups.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult organisations representing vulnerable groups on arriving at national standards of service for vulnerable groups.

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how single outcome agreements will connect with national minimum standards of service for vulnerable groups.

Shona Robison: The National Care Standards set out of the quality of care for a range of care services available to vulnerable people. They are based on principles for ensuring dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential and equality and diversity. The Care Commission ensures through regulation that the standards are being met. Arrangements for the provision of other types of services which vulnerable people might use are made under relevant legislation. Representative organisations for vulnerable groups were involved in developing the National Care Standards and are involved in discussions on any other issues relevant to vulnerable people.

  The government’s response to the Crerar Review makes clear that outcome-based agreements will form an integral part of the processes for external scrutiny of service standards and promoting a continuous improvement approach to service delivery.

Vulnerable Adults

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to support those who live with people suffering from mental health and substance abuse problems.

Shona Robison: We continue to work with NHS boards, local authorities and their partners, to ensure the best possible care and treatment for all.

  That attention is focused around the clear recommendations within our 2007 report Mind the Gaps – Making a Difference (Bib. number 44565) which focus on improving awareness of the needs of those with co-occurring mental health and substance misuse; improving support and service provision, and influencing positive supportive attitudes toward this care group.

  The forward action will reflect these aims by promoting and encouraging joined-up local and other services with attention on prevention and recovery, while recognising also the needs of the carers and family members.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Standards

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many recorded instances it is aware of when the legal requirements regarding gifts to MSPs has been breached since 1999 and, of these, how many have been referred to the Procurator Fiscal.

Alex Fergusson: : Since 1999, the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee and its predecessor Committees have published one report (4th Report, 2005, Session 2) in which it agreed that the member had breached article 4(6) of the Members’ Interests Order by failing to register the receipt of a gift within the 30 day registration deadline provided for by the Members’ Interest Order. This report confirms that, under paragraph 14 of the Direction issued by the Scottish Parliament on 15 January 2003, the Standards Commissioner referred the complaint to the Procurator Fiscal on 17 February 2005.

  As the committee’s report did not recommend any sanctions be imposed, the Parliament was not required to consider a motion lodged under Standing Order rule 1.7.